GETS Goes National

Rising Sun Energy Center is proud to announce that its Green Energy Training Services (GETS) home performance training curriculum has been licensed by the Baltimore Center for Green Careers.

Rising Sun Energy Center is a community-based non-profit organization that provides green workforce development training and employment, as well as offering community education and low-to-no-cost residential retrofits that lower energy and water usage. Rising Sun developed the GETS curriculum in 2008 in response to local employers’ need for trained energy auditors and efficiency installers. Since then, Rising Sun has prepared more than 300 dislocated workers and adults with barriers to employment for careers in the building performance sector. Rising Sun is a Building Performance Institute (BPI) testing center, and the GETS curriculum has been approved by BPI for four levels of certification.

The Baltimore Center for Green Careers, a CivicWorks venture, operates the B’More Green Energy Retrofit Installer Training to prepare local residents for entry-level jobs in weatherization and home performance. B’More Green’s qualified and experienced instructors will implement the GETS curriculum through a combination of classroom and hands-on training. After completing the program, B’More Green graduates will be placed into entry-level green careers with employers that offer a living wage and opportunities for advancement

Rising Sun operates Rising Sun Energy Services, a building performance social enterprise that hires GETS graduates for paid on-the-job training performing energy audits and retrofits. Energy Services also allows current students to gain real-world experience by riding along with the crew for the day. This not only offers GETS students the chance to practice what they are learning in the classroom, it also helps crew members develop their leadership and field training skills.

Like Rising Sun, CivicWorks operates a building performance social enterprise, and will offer graduates of B’More Green’s Energy Retrofit Installer Training the opportunity to participate in paid on-the-job training performing energy audits and retrofits on Baltimore homes.

In partnership with two local community colleges—Laney and Skyline—Rising Sun is preparing to participate in a pilot of the new Energy Auditor and Installer certifications developed by the National Renewable Energy Lab and rolled out by BPI this summer. With input from the GETS Employer Council, the GETS curriculum will be refined to reflect the new standards as these certifications gain traction in the industry.

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